We provide disaster recovery with Zerto in two scenarios. One is for our customers using on-premises deployments, and the other is for using the multi-tenant cloud. They're buying the cloud as a service, and we're also protecting that with it.
Executive VP, Product & Technical Services at Thrive
Superior compared to the other vendors
Pros and Cons
- "The product is superior compared to the other vendors."
- "Our operational teams have discussed the ability to integrate multiple Zerto cloud platforms more seamlessly. For example, we have acquired 22 companies over the last seven years. Some already had it deployed, and integrating those existing deployments into our primary deployment is more challenging than it could be. We have provided our feedback to them."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Zerto is primarily well-recognized as a leader in disaster recovery. It makes it easy for us to talk to our clients about the solution we provide them. Since it is Zerto-powered, we don't have to answer many questions about how it works, its reliability, or its capabilities. Thus, having name recognition, a positive company reputation, and technology benefits us.
What is most valuable?
The platform's ease of deployment and the ability to isolate failovers are key features for our customers who want to perform testing without interrupting their production environments. Those are the two primary use cases.
What needs improvement?
Our operational teams have discussed the ability to integrate multiple Zerto cloud platforms more seamlessly. For example, we have acquired 22 companies over the last seven years. Some already had it deployed, and integrating those existing deployments into our primary deployment is more challenging than it could be. We have provided our feedback to them.
Buyer's Guide
Zerto
November 2024
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For how long have I used the solution?
Thryv has been using Zerto for about twelve years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
As a product manager, I haven't received any feedback indicating issues with platform stability, which our engineering team would certainly inform me about.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We've had no issues with the product scalability so far, whether it's individual customers or even as an aggregated group.
The size of the environment varies. We have some small customers with only a handful of virtual machines and others with two, three, or four virtual machines.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In our previous company, we used VMware Site Recovery Manager and Veeam. However, over the last 12 to 14 years, we have primarily used Zerto.
How was the initial setup?
We have our private cloud, and that's where we primarily use Zerto. We also manage some Microsoft Azure environments where we have sparingly used the service, mainly because the same functionality is not present as it is when using it in a private cloud.
What was our ROI?
Disaster recovery as a service is a significant component of our overall cloud services. So, the ROI lies in Thryv's profitability, as we offer a managed service that adds value to our customers and generates a profitable revenue stream.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product's pricing is the one area where it is less competitive. However, we understand why it costs slightly more comparing the features and capabilities. Customers prioritizing price might choose a solution offering different RPOs and RTOs for a lower cost. We have provided feedback on whether there could be a lighter option or alternative that's more cost-effective for the customers while balancing cost and performance. It would help Zerto and us win more business.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The product is superior compared to the other vendors.
What other advice do I have?
We offer disaster recovery as a service powered by Zerto. We have multiple disaster recovery targets in the US and the UK and are expanding into Canada and Hong Kong.
I am happy that they've reconsidered the decision to stop supporting Hyper-V, especially with all the changes happening in the Broadcom world and customers looking at it as a solution. Zerto's continuous support is key.
The near-synchronous feature is a differentiator. Other platforms compete with Zerto, with Veeam being the primary one, trying to get the same capabilities. It is a key factor for clients who need low RPOs and the ability to protect their data with minimal potential data loss. It cannot eliminate the potential for data loss entirely and has a minimal impact. If the customers have a production-impacting event, their data is as close as possible to a mirror of what they had at the time of the production loss. So, it is a significant factor.
To some extent, we have implemented DR with Microsoft. It is less feature-rich and has a different implementation. We offer the service but don't offer much in the public cloud. Replicating out of the public cloud adds a whole other set of challenges. We can replicate it to a VMware-based cloud. However, no VMware tools are available if we want to replicate it outside of Microsoft Azure. It makes for a different recovery and is a bit more labor-intensive.
It has greatly impacted the RPOs. As long as our customers have enough bandwidth to transmit the changes across the network to our cloud, the RPOs generally take a minute. However, if the customer has bandwidth constraints, it can take up to five minutes.
With Zerto, recovery is much cleaner and faster. It's orchestrated better, and the testing capability within the cloud is a valuable differentiator. Unfortunately, we don't have many customers experiencing disasters, so our experience is generally around the testing component and making simulated or even full recoveries for customers seeking that. It has always performed well.
I would give it a nine for everything around capabilities and the product itself. The only drawback is the pricing. If we could get a better pricing model, especially in larger deals where we need to be more competitive for price-conscious customers, that would be beneficial.
Overall, though, I'm happy with Zerto as a partner. My reaction would have been different if the Hyper-V decision hadn't changed, as that would have caused complications for some customers.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Last updated: Jul 15, 2024
Flag as inappropriateSenior admin at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
Has a fast recovery time and good near-synchronous replication
Pros and Cons
- "Speed of recovery has been very effective in getting our information back as fast as we're able to get it. The daily backup solution that we use alternatively only allows a single backup versus having continuous backup replication with Zerto, it's a no-brainer."
- "I would like to have more granular notifications for jobs and workloads within the applying case application."
What is our primary use case?
We've used Zerto for file recovery and entire VM recovery.
What is most valuable?
Having a fast recovery time for both of our use cases is invaluable to the business.
The ability to form our backups automatically during the day has saved us, more than a few times.
My impression of Zerto’s near-synchronous replication is very positive. It gets the job done.
Near-synchronous replication is very important for our organization who use a lot of different versions of files across environments and database changes. It's what we do every day and having the functionality of near-instant recovery on entire virtual machines and files is a blessing.
We use Zerto to protect our VMs in our environment. We do daily backups with a different backup management software and having the ability to recover data in under ten seconds has been helpful.
Speed of recovery has been very effective in getting our information back as fast as we're able to get it. The daily backup solution that we use alternatively only allows a single backup versus having continuous backup replication with Zerto, it's a no-brainer.
What needs improvement?
I would like to have more granular notifications for jobs and workloads within the applying case application.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Zerto for around sixteen months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's pretty stable. The company itself has been around long enough to know they're not going anywhere. The number of clients that use them on a day-to-day basis speaks for itself.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
For our environment, scalability does a great job with how it is. It can handle scaling.
How are customer service and support?
Zerto technical support is some of the best around. I know when I reach out to them over the phone or via email, they are there quickly and offer great support.
I would rate them a ten out of ten. Every time I have to call them, they get something ready, very fast, and our issues are resolved quickly.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We still use Veeam.
We chose Zerto because when we started our path with GreenLake, we began looking into other backup utilities and Zerto was highly recommended. After we saw a product demo, we were sold. The demo sold itself very well.
Once the VPG is configured, the automation for backups happens on its own. There's nothing else to do. You can monitor but until you need to recover the files, there's nothing else to do. Zerto is very simple. We enjoy using the product.
The main difference between Veeam and Zerto is that with Zerto, we can get our near-instant recovery window to pull entire virtual machines back from the brink of failure. We might be able to implement more recovery windows for Veeam but from a data storage perspective, Zerto does a great job with deduplication.
How was the initial setup?
We had a third party enable our Zerto configurations. They did a great job. The same VPGs are still running today.
What about the implementation team?
We used an integrator for the setup. We had a good setup. They walked us through any issues we had after the setup.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Zerto a nine out of ten. There is a network issue that my team is still trying to figure out. Once we take care of it, it'll be a perfect ten.
Zerto should be our primary backup solution but until we can get the network issue resolved, it is relegated as a secondary source. It still does its job. We've used it multiple times for specific cases, and it's always passed with flying colors.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Jul 15, 2024
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Zerto
November 2024
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Data Research Analyst & Business Development at DIS Research
Saves significant recovery time, doesn't require a lot of resources, and eliminates the need for a dedicated physical data center
Pros and Cons
- "Zerto stands out for its user-friendly approach to data protection and recovery, allowing for quick and efficient backups and restores."
- "Zerto's setup process could be simpler."
What is our primary use case?
We store a lot of raw data for reporting and use Zerto to protect that data.
Before implementing Zerto, we lacked a data protection and recovery solution, resulting in a significant data loss incident of approximately 70 percent during a past event.
How has it helped my organization?
Zerto is easy to use.
The near-synchronous replication offers a critical advantage for our customers' multi-platform environments by providing continuous data protection with minimal delay.
The main benefit of Zerto is that it doesn't affect the performance of the cloud platform while protecting the data. We realized the benefits of Zerto within the first three months.
Zerto's implementation has significantly improved our recovery time objective, allowing us to get our systems back online much quicker.
Zerto has significantly improved our disaster recovery capabilities, reducing downtime from days to just two hours.
With Zerto in place, our disaster recovery time has been reduced to a maximum of two days, whereas previously we lacked a recovery solution altogether.
Our disaster recovery testing with Zerto exceeded expectations. We aimed to restore all data within five days, but using Zerto's capabilities, we achieved a full recovery in just two days.
Zerto saved our staff three days of work, freeing them for other tasks.
Zerto's continuous data protection, journal-based recovery, automation, multi-cloud and hybrid cloud support, and non-disruptive testing have significantly improved our IT resilience strategy. These features not only enhance data protection and improve our Recovery Time Objective and Recovery Point Objective but also provide the flexibility and scalability needed for a robust IT environment.
It facilitates a cloud-based disaster recovery solution, eliminating the need for a dedicated physical data center to ensure business continuity in the event of an outage.
Zerto was our disaster recovery solution of choice because it offers a cloud-based implementation, which perfectly aligned with our organization's prioritization of cloud-based disaster recovery.
What is most valuable?
It stands out for its user-friendly approach to data protection and recovery, allowing for quick and efficient backups and restores.
What needs improvement?
Zerto's pricing structure could be more competitive to better suit the needs of a wider range of businesses.
The setup process could be simpler. A more streamlined installation would improve the user experience.
Zerto's long-term data storage capabilities, specifically how long data can be retained and managed, could benefit from further development.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Zerto for ten months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We sometimes face challenges that require multiple hours of downtime but it is rare. I would rate the stability eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Zerto is expensive.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is quick to respond.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
Integrating the initial deployment into our infrastructure proved to be a complex undertaking.
To ensure a smooth implementation, we prioritized planning and engagement, starting with management and then incorporating other stakeholders. We piloted the project with the operations team for a month before a full organizational rollout.
The deployment took around one week and involved six people.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation was completed in-house.
What was our ROI?
Zerto provides a return on investment through the peace of mind we get knowing that all of our data is protected.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Zerto is expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
After considering both Commvault and Carbonite, we ultimately decided Zerto was the best fit for our data protection needs.
Zerto emerged as our choice for data protection because its feature set directly addressed the specific needs of our organization.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Zerto eight out of ten.
Maintaining Zerto is manageable as we have a dedicated team of three people responsible for its upkeep.
Our organization consists of 40 analysts in one site.
Zerto provides robust data protection and excels in disaster recovery for businesses, but its cost may be steeper compared to other solutions.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Last updated: Jun 30, 2024
Flag as inappropriateLead Consultant at a tech consulting company with 10,001+ employees
A user-friendly UI, helps reduce recovery time, and DR testing
Pros and Cons
- "The user interface is very user-friendly."
- "It would be beneficial if Zerto also offered integration with other cloud management platforms, such as VMware Aria Automation."
What is our primary use case?
Our environment primarily integrates Zerto with VMware. This includes offering Zerto's self-service portal, which integrates seamlessly with Cloud Director. Additionally, we have Zerto integration at the vCenter level in situations where we don't use Zerto Cloud Manager and its self-service portal. This variety reflects the different use cases within our current processes. Since Zerto is our primary offering for disaster recovery solutions, we tailor the implementation based on customer needs.
We implemented Zerto to safeguard our private cloud infrastructure workloads. While disaster recovery is its primary function, we also leverage Zerto for data migration.
How has it helped my organization?
Our RPO with Zerto is under five minutes. The RPO time is dependent on the bandwidth.
We have asynchronous replication with Zerto.
Zerto integrates well with Asynchronous Continuous Delivery tools. However, unlike SRM, Zerto offers protection during workflow rollbacks. This rollback functionality, along with its centralized reporting and UI management, makes Zerto an attractive solution.
Zerto offers a cloud-based disaster recovery solution, eliminating the need for physical data centers. In this instance, we leveraged Zerto to protect a private cloud workload running VMware and ensure its seamless recovery in Microsoft Azure. Disaster recovery in the cloud is crucial. As part of the private and hybrid cloud infrastructure team, I'm involved with a service in our catalog that runs workloads in a private cloud but configures disaster recovery primarily for the public cloud, Azure in our case. This is important for both the customer and the organization that provides the service.
Zerto offers significantly faster recovery times compared to SRM. SRM's recovery process involves multiple steps, requiring a detailed checklist to ensure the correct sequence is followed within protection groups and recovery plans. This complexity is a common issue with other data recovery products. Ideally, any product, not just from a design perspective but also from implementation and operation, should be user-friendly. It should be intuitive and easy to operate to achieve its intended purpose. This is a key reason we chose Zerto over other data recovery solutions.
Migrating data with Zerto is incredibly easy. It performs a continuous replication of our data in the background, even while our primary server is running. This live replication ensures all changes are captured before the server is shut down. In other words, it includes everything, resulting in a seamless migration process. Triggering the migration is also straightforward. We simply need to choose whether it's a move operation or a scale-over operation.
It helps reduce downtime during migrations. While there might be a brief interruption when workloads are shut down, there's no data loss. However, downtime for disaster recovery depends on the specific application's RPO. RPO isn't a fixed value; it varies based on how much data loss an application can tolerate.
It helps to reduce our overall DR testing. The solution is designed so that we can trigger the app or a move operation within three steps. Making it easier and quicker for the administrator or customer that is working on it.
Zerto's user-friendly interface simplifies operation and management, allowing us to minimize the number of people involved in overall backup and DR management.
What is most valuable?
The user interface is very user-friendly. Additionally, the journaling feature allows users to restore their progress to any point in time. This is a valuable feature, especially since similar products, like SRM and SCX, don't offer this functionality. In my opinion, this journaling capability makes Zerto unique.
What needs improvement?
Zerto integrates with vCloud Director to protect workloads deployed there. However, it would be beneficial if Zerto also offered integration with other cloud management platforms, such as VMware Aria Automation. For example, Site Recovery Manager recently introduced integration with VMware Aria Automation, allowing the protection of workloads deployed through Aria Automation. This functionality, including site recovery management, is currently not available in Zerto. Zerto's strength seems to lie specifically in its VMware capabilities, which could be an area for improvement.
Another point to consider is the potential for Zerto drivers to cause issues in ESXi environments. In some cases, users have reported problems and discovered that the Zerto drivers are not verified by VMware. While HPE is a technical alliance partner for Zerto, improved collaboration between VMware and Zerto regarding driver validation would be valuable. This information seems to be missing at the moment. We are currently in touch with our technical account manager to clarify this.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Zerto for over five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Most Zerto issues we experience are at the ESXi level, likely due to the Zerto drivers. However, these issues are not currently impacting our work.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Zerto is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is quick.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I also use SRM but I believe Zerto is better because it's easier to integrate with other systems. While SRM also offers integration for workload protection through VMware Aria Automation and a SIM connection application similar to replication, it may have some limitations. For instance, Zerto might require an agent to communicate with the source system, which could be a disadvantage. This suggests that there might be features offered by other vendors that Zerto could incorporate to improve its functionality.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment is straightforward. Zerto has introduced an appliance, making deployment even easier by removing the need for patching and object installation.
One member of our deployment team is needed for the deployment.
What about the implementation team?
As a Zerto partner, we do all the deployments for our customers and provide comprehensive training.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Zerto nine out of ten.
I recommend that new users take advantage of any training videos and documentation offered by Zerto to familiarize themselves with all the features and how to use them.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Accountant at TEE TEE
Helps our organization block threats, is user-friendly, and effective in storage
Pros and Cons
- "Zerto is truly inspiring."
- "The performance was generally good, but occasional lag disrupted the flow, leaving room for improvement."
What is our primary use case?
I use Zerto to store and protect my files. Whether I'm working on a project or just need to access old files, Zerto ensures everything is safe. This makes it very convenient, as I can easily access any information I need with just a single click.
How has it helped my organization?
Zerto is effective at blocking unknown threats and attacks. We might consider using it on the business website as well, but it's important to understand how it might impact our operations. It helps with blocking threats, which is certainly valuable. So, in terms of its effectiveness, I'd say it's close to 99% guaranteed.
Zerto has helped our organization block threats, is user-friendly, is effective in storage, and inspires users.
Zerto's Cloud disaster recovery is impressive, and recovering most of our data can be relatively straightforward. However, it requires careful planning and understanding. Navigating the recovery site is crucial, so ensure we read and comprehend the instructions thoroughly before clicking anything. This way, we'll know which box to choose and where to click to achieve our desired outcome.
It is easy to migrate data using Zerto.
It helps reduce downtime.
It has helped reduce our disaster recovery time. Before Zerto, we needed ten people for disaster recovery and now with Zerto, we are down to three.
What is most valuable?
Zerto is truly inspiring. Sometimes, when I provide information and receive it back, it can be remarkably refreshing and motivate me to get the most out of it. There might be instances where I initially think something isn't applicable, but then I try it out and say "wow" as I realize I am getting something positive from it. it becomes quite inspiring and brings out my best creative potential. Witnessing these features makes me naturally want to explore and create more.
What needs improvement?
The performance was generally good, but occasional lag disrupted the flow, leaving room for improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Zerto for four months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
While Zerto is stable, it can sometimes be slow to retrieve the data we need.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Zerto is scalable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used to complete tasks manually, which consumed a lot of manpower, before adopting Zerto.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Zerto is affordable.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Zerto a nine out of ten.
No matter what we choose to do, there will always be potential positives and negatives. When aiming for the best outcome, focus on visualizing success and avoid dwelling on negativity. However, even while striving for the positive, acknowledge that occasional setbacks like technology issues or unexpected problems might occur. Don't get discouraged in the present; trust that Zerto will ultimately lead to something beneficial and fulfilling.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Google
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
System Administrator at Waternet
Provides near-synchronous replication, is easy to migrate data, and helps our users collaborate
Pros and Cons
- "The communication between the VM and the secondary data center is the most valuable feature."
- "I would like Zerto to provide more detailed information when there is an issue."
What is our primary use case?
We use Zerto to verify the information being transferred from one data center to another.
How has it helped my organization?
When a site is down, we can continue to use the other site thanks to Zerto.
The near-synchronous replication is extremely valuable because it ensures we can continue working.
The move action between the app and data center is great and we can see the benefits in minutes.
Our RPOs are performing well thanks to Zerto.
Migrating data using Zerto is easy.
Zerto helps our users collaborate during data migration.
Our RTO using Zerto is good.
What is most valuable?
The communication between the VM and the secondary data center is the most valuable feature.
What needs improvement?
I would like Zerto to provide more detailed information when there is an issue.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Zerto for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Zerto is extremely stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Zerto is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
I have used the technical support of Zerto several times and they are good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
Though I wasn't part of the initial deployment, the procedure is relatively simple. Manager rollout is the first step, followed by CPG installation on VMs by the CPG teams and subsequent network configuration verification.
Four people are required for the deployment.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Zerto a nine out of ten.
Zerto is a good solution for transferring data between centers.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Manager of IT Technical Operations at a non-profit with 201-500 employees
Easy to set up and use, offers reliable performance
Pros and Cons
- "It works really well. It's simple to set up and works well. Moreover, disaster recovery to the cloud to our organization is very important. We actually had to use it three years ago, and it worked out well for us."
- "When we migrated to new virtual infrastructure, we had to set up Zerto all over again. And that took a long time. It would be nice if Zerto had some sort of migration tool where you could migrate all of your virtual machines to a new infrastructure without having to set up Zerto all over again."
What is our primary use case?
We use Zerto to replicate all of our production solutions. We replicate to cloud storage.
How has it helped my organization?
Zerto works really well. It's simple to set up and works well. Moreover, disaster recovery to the cloud for our organization is very important. We actually had to use it three years ago, and it worked out well for us.
It replicates a lot quicker than what we were using previously. We did see a reduction in the time it takes to replicate. We were using SAN replication, and Zerto works in about a quarter of the time.
We use Zerto to protect our VM environment.
What is most valuable?
Zerto works reliably and that is simple to set up and manage.
Moreover, Zerto's Near Synchronous Replication is fast. It lets you recover to a very short point in time, so you don't lose anything. It's really important because we don't want to lose any of our data. We want to be able to recover as much as we can. So this feature helps us do that.
Overall recovery time objective (RTO) with Zerto is really good. It's within seconds for us.
What needs improvement?
When we migrated to a new virtual infrastructure, we had to set up Zerto all over again which took a long time.
It would be nice if Zerto had some sort of migration tool where you could migrate all of your virtual machines to a new infrastructure without having to set up Zerto all over again.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Zerto for about four and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It works really well. We rarely have any sort of issue with it. You just set it up and it does its thing.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We are a smaller environment, but it seems like it would work well for much larger organizations too.
We protect 36 virtual machines right now.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and support are really good. They reply quickly and they usually resolve the issue in a very short time frame.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We looked at Veeam, Veritas, and some other storage-level replication solutions. We chose Zerto because it was just simple to set up and had good reviews. It works well and is pretty simple to use.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is pretty simple. We had it set up and replicating in about three hours. It's really quick to set up and works pretty simply.
What was our ROI?
We definitely have seen a return on investment from Zerto. We were able to recover from an incident that would have been a lot more serious without Zerto.
Without Zerto, our organization would have lost several million dollars in financial damages from data loss.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is a bit pricey for sure. But the licensing is simple to understand, which is good.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
ISD Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Powerful and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is Zerto's ability to precopy data to a remote destination prior to the actual live migration period. That saves us a lot of time and has been very helpful. For example, if we had migrations occurring in waves over a period of several weeks with a VPG or VPG setup of approximately 50 VMs, that is multiple gigabytes of data, even terabytes in many cases. Having that data already copied on the evening of the migration saves considerable hours of time. It easily saves us four to six hours a night."
- "The VPG model causes us a bit of concern. We are considering using Zerto to replace Site Recovery Manager. Site Recovery Manager is very easy when we have entire data scores being replicated. We don't have to make any decisions when it comes to groupings. It is all covered. If we move to Zerto, which we are considering, we will have to work much closer with the applications teams to develop the VPG configuration and determine how the VMs will be grouped. It will be a lot more overhead for us to go that route."
What is our primary use case?
We have previously used Zerto for data center migration projects. We have another data center migration coming up within the next year where we will be using Zerto as well.
How has it helped my organization?
We had pretty strict requirements when it came to cross data center migration capabilities. We wanted to ensure that no plugins or drivers were needed. We also wanted a simple deployment. Zerto very easily fit that bill.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is Zerto's ability to synchronize data to the remote destination prior to the actual live migration date. This saves a massive amount of time during the actual migrations, and has been extremely beneficial. Having the data already synchronized on the evening of the migrations makes the final moves fast, easy, and seamless.
The interface is very easy to use. The product is easy to understand. We have had great success in using it for migrations. The benefit for us has primarily been the ease of use and stability of the product.
What needs improvement?
The VPG model has caused a bit of a concern. We are considering using Zerto to replace Site Recovery Manager. SRM is very easy when we have entire data stores being replicated. We don't have to make any decisions when it comes to groupings of VMs. If we move to Zerto, which we are considering, we will have to work closely with our applications teams to create VPGs and determine how the VMs will be grouped. This will probably be beneficial in the long term, but short term it will create more work for our team.
I spoke to a Zerto engineer who mentioned that we could do a VPG at the cluster level and a VPG at the datastore level. However, the one issue we've seen with VPGs is if the synchronization fails the entire VPG has to be recreated. Even though we can cover our environment at the cluster level or datastore level, that wouldn't be ideal. We really need a simpler solution for DR that will cover all of our VMs at once, instead of spending a considerable amount of time on VPG creation.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Zerto for about three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is very good. All of the components that we set up for Zerto have been very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability has met our needs.
How are customer service and support?
Support has been excellent. We had a couple of issues initially with a VPG that wasn't functioning properly. Support was very quick to respond. They were able to assist us and resolve the issue very quickly. We have only had to call support one time.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also use Site Recovery Manager. SRM does not have the same feature set for migrations that Zerto has.
How was the initial setup?
The product was easy to deploy. At the time, the only thing that we wanted to improve was to have an appliance for the ZVM, instead of a Windows server. I understand an appliance is available now. This will be very beneficial in the future.
The deployment was straightforward. We basically went through the documentation and then had a planning meeting with Zerto. Once we understood all of the requirements we were able to deploy very quickly with really no issues at all. We deployed Zerto in less than a week.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented the product ourselves. Zerto's expertise has always been very good.
What was our ROI?
Our migrations were all successful. We had no issues at any point during the project. That is what really sold us on Zerto.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing costs are not cheap. It is an expensive product. However, you do get what you pay for.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
There was really no other product that compared to Zerto. Zerto had exactly what we were looking for in a data center migration product. It had the ease of use and interface that we were looking for, that is, very simple and straightforward.
Zerto's ability to copy the data first, then synchronize just prior to the migrations made it much faster and easier for us to use than other solutions.
What other advice do I have?
Understand the VPG configuration. Understand that you will need to make some decisions as to how to cover your VMs. We eventually went with one VPG per VM for our migrations. This is because we discovered if the VPG has a problem, then you need start over and recreate the VPG. If you choose to cover 50 VMs on a VPG, and if that VPG fails for some reason, then you need to restart the whole process. So you need to consider your VPG design and how you are grouping your VMs.
We haven't used it yet for disaster recovery, but that is something that we will be looking at over the next year.
We have had great success with the product. It is one of the very few products that we have recently used that literally had no issues and worked exactly as designed. At every single point in our migration, it was successful. We had multiple migration waves that occurred over a period of a year and a half. We literally had no failures during that entire time, which is of rare in the industry and made us very happy. Now that we have another data center migration project coming up, we decided we were just going to go straight back to Zerto.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: November 2024
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Download our free Zerto Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
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